Burundi is becoming the first country to quit International Criminal Court (ICC).
An ICC spokesman confirms that the pullout takes effect
Friday, a year after the East African nation notified the
United Nations secretary-general of its intention to leave the court that prosecutes the world’s worst atrocities.
Burundi is the only one of three African nations to go ahead
with its withdrawal after making moves last year to leave amid accusations that the court focuses too much on the continent.
South Africa’s withdrawal was revoked in March.
Gambia’s new government reversed its withdrawal in February.
The ICC says Burundi’s withdrawal doesn’t affect the
preliminary examination of the country’s situation already
underway by the court’s prosecutor.
The Government of Burundi formally notified withdrawal from the international criminal court on 27 October 2016.
But t in accordance with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court it takes a year for the withdrawal to be effective. Which means that today, October 27, Burundi is no longer a State party to the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court.
Burundi has just written a new page in the history of international relations as it becomes the first country in world to withdraw from the international criminal court.
